Hope through the Hard

leviaherrin
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This is Hope Through the Hard — where we talk honestly about life’s struggles and how to face them in healthy, hope-filled ways. Because as 2 Corinthians says, we may be hard pressed… but we are never crushed.

  1. 4d ago

    Are You Safe to Be Honest With?

    Why We Get Defensive When Someone Says We Hurt Them Are You Safe to Be Honest With?Why We Get Defensive When Someone Says We Hurt Them Have you ever worked up the courage to tell someone they hurt you—only to find yourself comforting them five minutes later? Or here's the harder question: Have you ever been the person who made someone regret telling you the truth? Sometimes our intentions are good, but our reactions make honesty difficult. We defend ourselves, explain what we meant, withdraw, or rush to fix the situation before we've really listened. In this episode of Hope Through the Hard, Ashley and Levi turn the conversation about emotional maturity outward: What is it like for other people to experience us? Through honest conversations about their marriage, parenting, and their different responses to correction, they explore why hearing difficult truth can feel threatening—and how Christ forms us into people who can receive another person's honesty with humility, curiosity, and love. In this episode, we explore: Why defensiveness isn't always arrogance—and how fear or shame can influence our reactions. The difference between our intentions and the impact of our words. Why listening doesn't mean automatically agreeing. What James 1:19–20 teaches about being quick to listen and slow to speak. How Jesus demonstrates grace and truth in His conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4. Why emotional safety isn't the same thing as always making someone comfortable. How apologizing, listening, and changing our behavior can strengthen marriages, parenting, and other relationships. One faithful next step: The next time someone brings you something difficult, resist the urge to explain yourself immediately. Instead, ask: “Can you help me understand what that was like for you?” Emotional maturity isn't becoming less emotional. It's becoming more like Christ with our emotions. If you're navigating difficult relationships, learning healthier responses, or seeking support in your healing journey, visit https://curatedcoalition.com to learn about coaching or book a free consultation. Subscribe to Hope Through the Hard: A Curated Coalition Podcast for honest conversations about life's hard places and the hope we have in Christ. Scripture: James 1:19–20; Proverbs 12:15; John 4:1–30; John 1:14; Colossians 3:12–14; 2 Corinthians 4:8–9. #HopeThroughTheHard #EmotionalMaturity #ChristianRelationships #HealthyCommunication #FaithAndHealing #MarriageCommunication #CuratedCoalition

  2. 4d ago

    Are You Safe to Be Honest With?

    Why We Get Defensive When Someone Says We Hurt Them Are You Safe to Be Honest With?Why We Get Defensive When Someone Says We Hurt Them Have you ever worked up the courage to tell someone they hurt you—only to find yourself comforting them five minutes later? Or here's the harder question: Have you ever been the person who made someone regret telling you the truth? Sometimes our intentions are good, but our reactions make honesty difficult. We defend ourselves, explain what we meant, withdraw, or rush to fix the situation before we've really listened. In this episode of Hope Through the Hard, Ashley and Levi turn the conversation about emotional maturity outward: What is it like for other people to experience us? Through honest conversations about their marriage, parenting, and their different responses to correction, they explore why hearing difficult truth can feel threatening—and how Christ forms us into people who can receive another person's honesty with humility, curiosity, and love. In this episode, we explore: Why defensiveness isn't always arrogance—and how fear or shame can influence our reactions. The difference between our intentions and the impact of our words. Why listening doesn't mean automatically agreeing. What James 1:19–20 teaches about being quick to listen and slow to speak. How Jesus demonstrates grace and truth in His conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4. Why emotional safety isn't the same thing as always making someone comfortable. How apologizing, listening, and changing our behavior can strengthen marriages, parenting, and other relationships. One faithful next step: The next time someone brings you something difficult, resist the urge to explain yourself immediately. Instead, ask: “Can you help me understand what that was like for you?” Emotional maturity isn't becoming less emotional. It's becoming more like Christ with our emotions. If you're navigating difficult relationships, learning healthier responses, or seeking support in your healing journey, visit https://curatedcoalition.com to learn about coaching or book a free consultation. Subscribe to Hope Through the Hard: A Curated Coalition Podcast for honest conversations about life's hard places and the hope we have in Christ. Scripture: James 1:19–20; Proverbs 12:15; John 4:1–30; John 1:14; Colossians 3:12–14; 2 Corinthians 4:8–9. #HopeThroughTheHard #EmotionalMaturity #ChristianRelationships #HealthyCommunication #FaithAndHealing #MarriageCommunication #CuratedCoalition

  3. Oct 7

    When Your Emotions Take Over

    Have you ever been in the middle of an argument and suddenly realized you're not even having the same conversation you started with? You're talking faster. You're preparing your response instead of listening. You're desperate to be understood—or you've completely shut down. Maybe part of you even knows you're no longer communicating well. But you can't seem to stop. In this episode of Hope Through the Hard, Ashley and Levi explore what psychologists often call emotional flooding: what can happen when emotional and physiological overwhelm makes it much harder to access the relational skills we actually possess. But becoming emotionally overwhelmed doesn't automatically mean you're emotionally immature. The more important question is: What are you learning to do when you recognize that it's happening? Ashley and Levi talk candidly about their own very different conflict patterns—Ashley tending toward flight until she eventually fights, and Levi tending toward fixing and fawning until unresolved conflict pushes him toward fight too. They explore why our responses can shift under pressure and why emotional maturity isn't about eliminating emotion. They also return to Peter, who has become an unexpected case study throughout this Emotional Maturity series. As Peter becomes increasingly reactive under enormous pressure on the night Jesus is arrested, Jesus gives us a very different picture: fully human, deeply emotional, yet not controlled by every demand placed upon Him. In this conversation: — What emotional flooding actually is— Why conflict can make listening and responding intentionally much harder— Fight, flight, freeze and fawn as response patterns—not personality types— Peter and Jesus under pressure— Why sometimes the mature thing is to stop talking— The difference between a healthy pause and avoidance— Why returning is part of taking a pause— Notice → Bring → Discern → Respond— Separating what actually happened from what we interpreted it to mean— What to do when someone won't allow you to pause— Repairing after you've responded in a way you regret— Why grace makes responsibility safe enough to practice The goal isn't to become less emotional. It's to become more like Christ with our emotions. And maybe the next faithful step isn't fixing your entire conflict style. Maybe it's simply learning to recognize one sign that says, I'm getting overwhelmed. Then bringing that moment to Jesus and asking: What would love require of me next? Hope Through the Hard: A Curated Coalition Podcast “Hard pressed on every side, but not crushed…” — 2 Corinthians 4:8–9 For coaching services or to book a free consultation, visit Curated Coalition. #HopeThroughTheHard #EmotionalMaturity #EmotionalFlooding #ChristianMarriage #HealthyRelationships #ConflictResolution #ChristianPodcast #InnerHealing #CuratedCoalition

  4. Sep 30

    Boston Special (Produced by Lincoln Herrin)

    We took Hope Through the Hard on the road—and this time, Lincoln and Lyndon are helping tell the story. What started as a work trip to Boston turned into our family's first trip to New England, a history-filled adventure through Cape Cod, Plymouth, and the streets of Boston...and approximately 12½ miles of walking in one day. 😂 In this special episode, we're trading the podcast chairs for airplanes, public transit, historic streets, museums, burial grounds, ships, art—and more than a few family adventures along the way. We begin on Cape Cod, exploring Sandwich and watching glassblowers at work before visiting Plymouth Rock and Mayflower II. Then it's on to Boston, where we follow the Freedom Trail through places that helped shape the American Revolution. Along the way, we visit the Boston Tea Party Museum, Boston Common, Granary Burying Ground, Old North Church, Paul Revere's neighborhood, Copp's Hill, Bunker Hill, USS Constitution, Faneuil Hall, and the site of the Boston Massacre. And because apparently 12½ miles of Revolutionary history wasn't enough, we spend our final day exploring another side of Boston at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum—including the story of the still-unsolved 1990 art heist and The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt exhibit—before visiting the Boston Public Library, seeing the city from above, and finishing our trip in Beacon Hill. There are Revolutionary heroes and historic ships. There is priceless art. There are ducklings. There are gluten-free birthday cannolis. There is a child climbing a tree. There are several questionable family decisions involving how far something is “to walk.” But more than anything, this trip reminded us that history feels different when you can stand where it happened. Come explore Boston with us as we learn a little history, laugh at ourselves, and discover just how much of this incredible city we still haven't seen. Hope Through the Hard: A Curated Coalition PodcastReal conversations about the hard things in life—and the hope that carries us through. 📖 2 Corinthians 4:8–9🌿 Coaching & resources: curatedcoalition.com #HopeThroughTheHard #Boston #BostonFreedomTrail #FamilyTravel #AmericanHistory #BostonHistory #FreedomTrail #CapeCod #Plymouth #IsabellaStewartGardnerMuseum #USSConstitution #FamilyAdventure #CuratedCoalition

  5. Sep 23

    Why Healthy Conflict Feels Unsafe

    Have you ever had a disagreement with someone you love and—even though nothing terrible has actually happened—something inside you starts screaming: Are we okay? Nobody has threatened to leave. The relationship isn't ending. Maybe your spouse's tone simply changed. A friend told you something bothered them. Your teenager is upset with you. Someone wants to have a difficult conversation. But suddenly you're not only dealing with the disagreement. You're trying to make the uncomfortable feeling disappear. In this episode of Hope Through the Hard, we're continuing our Emotional Maturity arc by asking what happens when healing moves out of our internal world and begins transforming our relationships. What if conflict doesn't always mean something is wrong? What if someone can be disappointed with us—and we can still love one another? What if discomfort isn't the same thing as danger? We look at Jesus' conversation with the rich young ruler in Mark 10 and the remarkable way love and truth remain together even when the truth causes disappointment. We also revisit fight, flight, freeze and fawn—not simply as trigger responses to understand, but through the lens of emotional maturity: What does it look like to recognize the response and choose what faithfulness requires next? Along the way, we talk about the difference between taking space and avoiding conflict, peacemaking and people-pleasing, boundaries and escape, disagreement and danger—and why emotional maturity doesn't require you to confess to something you didn't do simply to make tension disappear. The question at the center of this conversation is simple: Can I remain present with you without abandoning either love or truth? Healthy conflict isn't the absence of discomfort. It's learning that love and truth can remain in the room together. 🎧 Hope Through the Hard: A Curated Coalition Podcast Learn more about Curated Coalition, explore our coaching services, or book a free consultation at curatedcoalition.com.

  6. Sep 16

    When Your First Response Isn’t Your Best Response

    Have you ever had someone say something—and before they’ve even finished the sentence, you already have an emotion, an interpretation, and an entire closing argument ready? Maybe you get defensive. Maybe you shut down. Maybe anger rises before you’ve even had time to think. Or maybe your response is simply: Fine. 😅 For several seasons of Hope Through the Hard, we’ve spent time understanding why we react the way we do: triggers, nervous-system responses, wounds, family patterns, fight, flight, freeze and fawn. But eventually healing asks us a new question: What am I going to do with the response that’s happening inside of me? In the first episode of our new arc on Emotional Maturity, we’re talking about what it looks like to become more like Christ with our emotions—not less emotional. We explore why emotions can give us information without giving us instructions, how Jesus models emotionally honest humanity in Gethsemane, and why impulsive Peter gives us so much hope for the process of formation. We also talk about self-compassion, responsibility, and research from Juliana Breines and Serena Chen showing that compassion after failure does not necessarily make us less accountable—in their experiments, it was associated with greater motivation to make amends and improve. And we get practical: What happens when someone really does treat you unfairly? What if your teenager hits an old wound? What if the first response has already escaped your mouth? Because emotional maturity isn’t perfection. Sometimes maturity happens before the reaction. Sometimes maturity looks like repair after it. And sometimes the most mature thing you can say is: I was wrong. That hurt me. No. I love you, and my answer is still no. Our responsibility isn’t to make sure everyone feels good about our response. It’s to respond faithfully. Emotional maturity isn’t becoming less emotional. It’s becoming more like Christ with our emotions. If this conversation helps you, share it with someone who is learning to respond differently—not perfectly, but increasingly. Learn more about Curated Coalition, explore our coaching services, or book a free consultation at curatedcoalition.com.

  7. Sep 9

    When Life Feels Too Full to Be Intentional

    Living Whole in a Fragmented World What happens when the things making your life feel overwhelming aren't things you can—or even should—remove? “Just simplify your life” can be helpful advice. Sometimes we've taken on responsibilities that were never ours, filled our schedules unnecessarily, or continued saying yes because we're afraid to disappoint someone. But sometimes life is simply full. Children need us. Work requires us. People we love get sick. Marriage takes attention. Ministry takes time. Bodies have needs. Dinner still has to be made. Someone needs a ride. The laundry is buzzing—and somehow everybody is looking for you at once. In this episode of Hope Through the Hard, Ashley and Levi ask a different question: Can we live full lives without living fragmented lives? Beginning with Jesus' words in Mark 1 and the disciples' declaration that “everyone is looking for you,” they explore the difference between a life that is genuinely full and a life in which our attention has become scattered across everything demanding it. Ashley introduces Sophie Leroy's research on attention residue—the lingering attention that can remain with one task after we've moved to another—and asks a deeper discipleship question: Psychology can tell us that our attention is limited. Discipleship asks what we will give that attention to. Together, Ashley and Levi explore Charles Hummel's idea of “the tyranny of the urgent,” Jesus' response to legitimate demands on His attention, why a faithful no can protect an important yes, and the freedom of accepting that human beings were never created to be limitless. Because: The loudest thing in your life is not necessarily the most important thing in your life. And intentionality isn't about creating a perfectly ordered, slow, aesthetically peaceful life. Intentionality is not creating the perfect rhythm for your life. It's learning to recognize what love and faithfulness require in the life you're actually living. Through ordinary examples—from unanswered emails and unfinished laundry to children who need our attention at 4:47 p.m.—this conversation brings the healing practice of Notice → Bring → Discern → Respond into everyday discipleship. You don't have to figure out the whole picture today. Come back to Jesus. What deserves your yes? What requires your no? What deserves your presence? What can wait? What is the next faithful thing? Do that with Him. Because healing isn't something we visit anymore. It's becoming the way we live. Scripture referenced: Mark 1:35–39; Matthew 12:46–50; 2 Corinthians 4:8–9 Research referenced: Sophie Leroy (2009), “Why Is It So Hard to Do My Work? The Challenge of Attention Residue When Switching Between Work Tasks,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 109(2), 168–181. Charles E. Hummel, Tyranny of the Urgent. Visit Curated Coalition for coaching services and to book a free consultation: curatedcoalition.com

  8. Sep 2

    Your Body Is a Place of Worship

    Offering Your Whole Self to ChristWhat if your body is not a problem to solve, an inconvenience to ignore, or something divine to worship—but part of the life God has given you to offer back to Him?In this episode of Hope Through the Hard, Ashley and Levi explore what it means to reclaim the body as a place of worship. We often divide our spiritual lives from our physical ones, but Scripture gives us a much more integrated picture of humanity. Jesus Himself took on flesh, experienced hunger, fatigue, pain, touch, grief, and rest—and Christian hope ultimately points toward resurrection, not escape from embodiment.Together, they unpack the difference between Christian embodiment and contemporary spirituality that tells us to discover the divine within ourselves. Revelation 4 gives us a very different picture: God is on the throne, He created all things, and we are deeply loved creatures who belong to Him. We do not look inward and discover that we are God; we look upward and remember that we belong to God.Ashley and Levi also introduce the concept of interoception—our awareness of internal bodily signals like heartbeat, breathing, hunger, tension, temperature, and fatigue—and consider how body awareness can become part of ordinary discipleship. The goal is not to obey every thought, feeling, desire, or physical sensation, but to notice what is happening and bring it under the loving lordship of Christ.They offer a simple practice:Notice. Bring. Discern. Respond.What am I experiencing? Can I bring it to Jesus without shame? What might this be communicating? What does faithfulness look like in this body, in this moment?The conversation moves into the ordinary places where embodied worship actually happens: exhaustion, anxiety, food, movement, aging, physical limitations, body image, caregiving, work, rest, and the simple routines of everyday life. Rather than forcing body positivity or waiting for a healthier, younger, stronger, thinner, or more capable version of ourselves, we can begin with the bodies we actually have today.Romans 12 gives the invitation: present your bodies as a living sacrifice.Not an imaginary future body.Not a perfected body.This one.Because:Your body doesn’t have to be perfected before it can become a place of worship.And perhaps one of the most ordinary ways we begin living from wholeness is simply opening our hands before the God who created us and saying:“Jesus, here I am.”Scripture referenced: John 1:14 Revelation 4 2 Corinthians 10:5 Romans 12:1–2 2 Corinthians 4:8–9Visit curatedcoalition.com to learn more about Curated Coalition coaching or to book a free consultation.

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About

This is Hope Through the Hard — where we talk honestly about life’s struggles and how to face them in healthy, hope-filled ways. Because as 2 Corinthians says, we may be hard pressed… but we are never crushed.

Information

  • Creator
    leviaherrin
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    66
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © leviaherrin
  • Show Website
    Hope through the Hard